Face-Off: Deadpool vs. Logan

Back for more, lovers of the depraved? It appears so, even though the hellish battle between last session's contestants would've been enough to break the strongest of humans. Nevertheless, you are here, and thus must brace yourself for a challenge that he existed before this bout, and will continue into the great eternity. Prepare youself for LOGAN vs. DEADPOOL.

In celebration of the Blu-ray release of LOGAN today, we will combat these two titans of the R-rated superhero flick that have taken the world by storm for their own unique reasons. On one hand we have POOL, which brought vulgarity and crudeness to the comic book world in glorious fashion, while the other acted as a meditative send-off to probably the greatest superhero performance the world has ever known.

Both have earned mad love from critics and audiences, but only one can be the ultimate champion. The battle will commence now! Both characters have rapid healing, so this may take awhile.

Reynolds was, to put it generically, born to play this role. His trademark charm and snark contribute to his immense likability, much like the character of Deadpool himself. The two of them are like peas in a pod, and it’s hard to tell where Reynolds ends and Pool begins. DEADPOOL plays so well into Reynolds’ strengths that it not only makes for one of the best superhero turns ever, but one of the most brilliant comedic performances in recent memory. However, though a commanding performance it is, when compared to the competition humor and whimsy can only mean so much.

Jackman first put on the claws for the first X-MEN movie back in 2000, and he spent the better part of two decades slashing and cigar chomping his way into our hearts. LOGAN marked the end of the storied career, and by god what a performance to go out on. The aggressive, animalistic side that we’ve come to see from Jackman’s take on the character is there plenty, but what’s new is a nuanced, layered and completely raw exposition of a broken, beaten man on his last legs. LOGAN is meant to act as study of a haunted, tortured individual given a shot at redemption before his life nears its end – much in the vein of gritty Western – and all of it hinges on one brutal performance. Jackman nails the job with conviction, and made us realize there was so much left to discover in this poor old chap.

DIRECTOR

Tim Miller was virtually unknown before DEADPOOL, and now he’s a hot ticket, especially since he traded out DEADPOOL 2 for THE TERMINATOR series. Working with a terrific script from Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, Miller keeps the movie going at a breakneck speed that keeps the jokes flying and blood gushing. One huge way Miller achieves this is by keeping the camera – and the movie as a whole – focused squarely on his leading “hero”. Every shot is meant to get across that this is not an ordinary comic book movie, and instead one that intends to break the confines of the genre.

You can tell James Mangold and Jackman were on the same page with this film for every step of the way. Both of them knew what this story needed to be, and Mangold in particular was dead-set on making this a gritty, adult character study that just so happened to involve comic book characters. The result is a movie that removes the glossy, expensive varnish of other comic book flicks and opts for an intimate tale between Logan and Charles, two men who have so much to regret and mourn, and how they can still save one more person in Laura/X-23. It was a bold, innovative choice in a world mired by franchises, but Mangold fought hard and delivered an unrelenting piece of cinema that forever stand on its own as a true superhero drama.

NOTABLE BITS & LINES

Please note that given the immense hilarity and quotability of DEADPOOL, not all lines could be listed. I'm not a machine.

Opening credits that replace actor names for archetypal character roles.
A casual introduction to Deadpool.
"Oh that's because it's Christmas Day, Dopinder, and I'm after someone on my naughty list."
The first wall break.
Backseat Brawl
"...did I leave the stove on?"
Meet Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead.
Count Em' Down Highway Rumble
"Bad Deadpool. *shoots thug*. Good Deadpool."
*blissfully inhales gun smoke* "I'm pleasuring myself tonight."
"...that guy in the red suit just turned that guy into a fucking cabob."
Meet Wade Wilson
"Then whose kitty litter did I just shit in?"
"...you will learn in the worst of ways that I have some hard spots too. That came out wrong. Or did it?"
"Say the magic word, Fat Gandalf."
Happy Holidays, from Wade and Vanessa.
"Oh...Canada!"
Colossus Beatdown (attempted)
127 Hours
"...you have something in your teeth."
Wade transforms
Fire Fight
Monster to the Public.
"You look like an avocado had sex with an uglier, more disgusting avocado."
"Deadpool...Captain Deadpool."
"Where's Francis?" montage.
"You're about to be killed by a Zamboni!"
"Tell where your boss is, or you're gonna die...in five minutes!"
Meet Blind Al/IKEA discussion.
Tiny Deadpool hand.
Wade tries to confront Vanessa.
"Wanna get fucked up?"
Bandhu in the trunk.
*whispering* "I'm so proud of you."
"Time to make the chimi-fuckin'-changas."
Superhero Landing!
Junkyard Showdown
"SUCK A COCK!"
Colossus vs. Angel Dust
Deadpool v. Francis
A Hero's Speech Cut Short
"...It's a face I'd be happy to sit on."
Ferris Bueller end-credits scene.
Basically, anytime Deadpool opened his mouth.

Junkie XL's frantic, techo-heavy style is a perfect match for DEADPOOL, giving the crazy moments a sense of energy and lunacy while mixing in some emotional sounds for the more sensitive moments. The composer is making a bigger and bigger name for himself by being able to blend electronic sounds and orchestrations and along with MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, DEADPOOL could go down as one of his better pieces of work.

Cathartic, ethereal and suitably emotional, Marco Beltrami gave LOGAN a sound to fit it's subject matter that favors meditative pieces over slam-bang orchestration. Nothing wrong with the latter, but LOGAN needed a sound to fit it's vast, desolate landscape and complex lead character. Beltrami gave us just that in a way few other composers really could, creating something truly compelling.

STORY

After meeting the woman of his dreams and seemingly having his life all figured out, Wade Wilson learns he has inoperable cancer throughout his whole body. In an attempt to cure himself he accepts treatment from a classified “government agency” that says they will cure his cancer and turn him into a superhero. After he learns they will torture him into mutating so that he can be sold to the highest bidder, Wade becomes a grotesque specimen with super strength, heightened reflexes, quick healing and the ability to break the fourth wall. Now he must find the bad guy, cut off his head, and get his lady love back. Hilarity ensues, merriment is had, and an icon is born. Simple, fast-paced, and filled with just enough eccentricity to make it seem fresh.

Taking place 12 years in the future, with the X-Men – as well as almost all mutant kind – are extinct. A weary, battle-scarred Logan a.k.a. Wolverine is living on in Mexico and working as a limo driver so he can save money to get him and his mentor, Charles Xavier a.k.a. Professor X, away from the world they no longer belong in. After Logan comes into contact with Donald Pierce he learns that he’s been tracked down by an organization who may want to do very bad things to him and Charles, and are hunting for a young girl. Trying to get out of Dodge, Logan comes into contact with a nurse who needs him to help said young girl, Laura, get to North Dakota. Logan has no choice but to accept when the nurse dies and Pierce and his Reavers come to collect the girl, as it becomes apparent the girl is not what she seems (hint: she’s a super badass). What ensues is a race against time, especially for Logan, who has this one chance to make up for the bad that’s happened in his life, in hopes of giving someone a brighter tomorrow. A Western-style tale in the vein of UNFORGIVEN and THE SEARCHERS, this is a thrilling character study wrapped in a comic book adventure, and is seamless from start to finish.

EMBRACE THE POWER OF THE RATING

DEADPOOL is the kind of movie that forced movie theaters to hire private security and Russian hitmen to guard their theaters from teenagers trying to see the goods. Filthy, graphic, crude and devious, DEADPOOL embraces it’s hard R-rating with relentless, hilarious vulgarity. Of course any summer comedy could be dirty as well, but DEADPOOL is also loaded with gory, sometimes wincing violence that varies between gun fire, sword play and limb-severing. It’s the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, which in a way makes it a sort of king of the rating. Eat it, concerned parents!

LOGAN is not shy to blunt language and brutal violence. Hell, there’s even a glimpse of welcome nudity. But the R-rating comes just as much for the violence as it does the heavy subject matter. This is an adult movie through and through, and is simply not for kids, not just because of the violence, but the movie itself just can’t be completely appreciated by young eyes. It takes a grown-ass person to feel these feelings.

THE BIG BADDIE

The opening credits of the movie had it dead right: A British villain, charming as he may be.

LOGAN is more about the dynamic between Logan, Charles and Laura than the external conflict in the form of the Pierce and the Reavers. But still, Holbrook is devilishly sinister as Donald Pierce, and you could even make the case that the Logan clone, X-24, is a worthy foe in the sense that it gets Logan to confront his past...metaphorically speaking. Ultimately, the villains represent a greater idea that Logan can never outrun his past, and he would have to confront his demons in the end.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE

As I discovered again from rewatching the film for this feature DEADPOOL’s watchability is off the charts. Reynolds’ performance and Miller’s direction keep the flick moving at a brisk pace and there is never an unfunny moment in the whole thing. Mix that humor in with some delightful violence and you have a quotable, exciting flick that will be watched and watched for ages to come. You can literally watch it whenever and enjoy it with equal measure each time. Taking a look at the box office you can tell that’s exactly what people did.

Given the heaviness of it all LOGAN is a surprisingly easy film to watch. It’s mature and complex but also accessible to those who can connect with Logan and be engaged to the drama. Not to mention there are some seriously well-done action scenes peppered throughout the flick, which finally give audiences a Wolverine movie fitting of his nature. But it's the journey and central hero is what will make the movie worth revisiting again and again.

DEADPOOL defied all expectations by coming out and making about three times as much money as it was expected to, earning rave reviews and turning the character into a modern day icon in the process. I think most of this can be attributed to the movie's brand of meta humor, which was infused in the marketing as much as the movie, and a performance from Ryan Reynolds that was perfectly in-tune with said humor. Constantly entertaining and groundbreaking as it is, LOGAN will go down as one of the greatest comic book movies of all time. If DEADPOOL took the game to a new level by embracing the R-rating to dizzying levels, LOGAN invented a new game all its own as a truly adult comic book drama filled with tremendous, award-worthy performances. This was the ultimate way to send off Jackman's turn as the character, especially when previous solo movies couldn't do him justice. The only way to truly give him a worthy solo movie was to dig into his inner depths, which meant going outside the genre norm. What we got was an honest, brutal and heartbreaking piece of art on par with any Oscar-level drama or thriller. By the end, all you can muster through the tears is, "Thank you, Hugh." Yep, I can feel the floodgates opening!